


First Stripes

by duckiesandlemons



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Gen, Loosely Follows Canon, Reasons why I'm not allowed to write, Supernatural AU - Freeform, but derails a lot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-15
Updated: 2013-08-15
Packaged: 2017-12-23 13:57:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/927300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/duckiesandlemons/pseuds/duckiesandlemons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a burst of fur, heat, and savage roaring, of blood and sweat and whatever the hell came with shifting, he had changed.</p><p>(Urban Fantasy AU, loosely follows Kagami through his first stages of shifting and Interhigh up to when he first meets Aomine)</p>
            </blockquote>





	First Stripes

**Author's Note:**

> Pacing in this is really bad, unbeta'd, and me being hopelessly indulgent. Also part of a series.

Kagami first changed after the practice match with Kaijou. 

His body had been running hot, still pumping with adrenaline and he tried to pass it off as just the exhilaration from winning.  That didn’t seem to be the case because even while they were eating, the heat still simmered underneath his skin.  It bubbled, pushed, tried to force its way out through his pores, and he almost thought he was going to be sick which would have been a waste—a big waste.  Not even the match against that team of punks helped to stop that burning, Kagami ignoring Kise (that stupid elf and his stupid sparkling and why did Kuroko keep on looking at him from the corner of his eyes) and his rambling to try and stomp it all down.

When he had gone home he could barely make his way up to his apartment, skin feeling like it was going to rip and his muscles tense.  Agitation had been on the rise, he was hotter than before, and the first thing he did when he got inside was strip off his jacket and t-shirt and crank the AC up to full blast.  It did nothing and he found himself lying sprawled out on the floor of his living room in agony, fingers clawing at the wood and breath coming out raspy.

He didn’t even notice the claws, the jagged grooves he left behind, until it was too late. 

In a burst of fur, heat, and savage roaring, of blood and sweat and whatever the hell came with shifting, he had changed. 

Instead of Kagami Taiga in the middle of his living room it had been a tiger, body heaving and irritated growls rising from its throat as it tried to get a good grasp of everything.  Kagami had been startled, carefully making his way through his apartment and stumbling because walking on four legs instead of two was disorienting.  Appetite for anything else had been hopelessly dashed and he had climbed onto his bed, lying down to sleep.

He woke up the next morning naked as the day he was born and with the stink of tiger in his room along with cleaner (it had taken him a minute to register that his sense of smell heightened, that he was smelling himself along with whatever else he had in his room).  When he stumbled to the mirror, groggy and still in pain from his first shift, he had been startled because suddenly they were _there_.  Signs of a shifter, crawling up and around his body in a haphazard but intricate pattern of _stripes upon stripes upon stripes_ that crawled up his neck and tickled his jaw line.  The slit pupils, the slight point of his ears—while he didn’t have the cat’s smile like his sempai (Koganei was more of a domestic cat though, the black stripes across his face the only marker besides the smile) it was obvious what he was.

When Kagami got ready for school that day he could only be thankful there were no rules against shifters participating in any sports.

\----------

The second time he changed it was during practice and it was painful—even more so than before.  Because of coach’s training, he had barely noticed the building heat and by the time he had it was too late.  Kuroko had given him a worried look, said--

“Kagami-kun?”

\--and Kagami was on his knees snarling and body going through that painful shift again.  It was like puberty all over again except it was shifter exclusive and while he knew everyone on Seirin now knew that he was a shifter (“A late bloomer, but I could tell you were one immediately!” Koganei declared proudly while patting Kagami on the shoulder, Mitobe nodding in agreement) they probably weren’t too thrilled about his sudden transformation during practice.

“Kagami, are you alright!?” Riko shouted, running up to him and lifting up his head.  It wasn’t wise, he could snap at her at any moment, but she looked him straight in the eyes and he cowered.  Shame, embarrassment, he didn’t mean to do this, but Riko had this worried look on her face.

“Kuroko, accompany him home.”

“Yes, Coach.”

Kagami left with head and tail lowered as Kuroko followed with both of their bags.

He transformed two more times during school before he requested to take the day off due to his recent awakening as a shifter.  It wasn’t held against him, and Kuroko came by with work.  Kagami was itching to practice, play basketball until he couldn’t anymore, but his body was doing everything it could to work against that.  “It should be over soon, right?” Kuroko asked, leaning against Kagami’s body and idly petting behind one ear.

Kagami only gave a rumble in return, ear flicking once in agitation but other than that completely relaxed. 

“It’s just before Interhigh though, this is bad.”

A snort.

“Kagami-kun has horrible timing couldn’t this have waited?”

A half-hearted growl in response.

“It’s okay though…I’m glad that not everything has changed.”

Kagami was curious about that, but he dutifully let it be.

\----------

Thankfully, Kagami only shifted five more times before he finally had control of his shifting abilities and came back just in time for a few more practices before they went off to go play in the Interhigh tournament.  Seiho was tough, but they pulled through just in time to go against Shutoku next.  Kagami was all energy and excitement despite the rough play from before against Seiho’s iron defense.  It had to be his shifter side, giving him a bit more stamina.  He was antsy, twitching in place, and seeing Shutoku appear just heightened that anticipation.

“He’s gotta be something good,” Kagami hummed.  “Kise was an elf right?  So what’s he?  Seer or something?”

“No, he’s human,” Kuroko was adjusting his wristbands when Kagami gave him a flat stare.  “Besides, he wouldn’t be allowed to play if he were a seer.”

“Human?”

“The only human of the Generation of Miracles.”

Kagami wanted to ask what about Kuroko, but the match was getting ready to start and his gaze drifted back to Midorima who was busy talking to the bird shifter he kept as his companion.  A human, huh?  That only made him just a bit more impressive and Kagami felt his blood starting to burn.  He doused that fire quickly though, lest he wanted to transform and he had already gotten past that embarrassing stage, and went to line up. 

The Generation of Miracles continued to surprise him.

\----------

Sitting at a table with an elf, a human, and whatever the hell Kuroko was had to be the most awkward thing to have ever happened in Kagami’s life.  Even as he ordered possibly everything on the menu there was still this tense atmosphere about them that made Kagami want to leave as soon as possible.  Or maybe that was just him reading too much into it.  He shrugged it off, finishing up his order, and returning to the incredulous stares of Kise and Midorima.  Kuroko looked indifferent as always.

“Yeah?” he asked, arching a brow.

Kise spluttered, “A-are you seriously going to eat all of that?  Geeze, Kagamicchi…”

“He’s a shifter, Kise,” Midorima pushed up his glasses, the only one looking like he didn’t want to be there (although Kagami couldn’t blame him considering he was the only human at a table full of supernatural beings).  “They eat more than the normal human, and they eat more than elves.”  That last bit was laced with such a “no, duh” tone that Kagami felt just the slightest bit sorry for Kise.

Just the slightest.

They started talking again, about the other Miracles, about the road to come, but the mood was instantly ruined when okonomiyaki landed promptly on Midorima’s head.

“Ah, Shin-chan, sorr—“

“Takao.”

Human Midorima may have been, but he was one Kagami didn’t want to tangle with and the bird shifter’s scream was proof of that.

\----------

The first time Kagami transformed willingly he had wanted to stretch his muscles in his beast form.  He had taken to stalking the less travelled routes, avoiding the humans and elves and other mythical folk that wandered the streets to not be stopped.  Big cat shifters were rare in Japan, and the people here loved ogling and taking pictures more than letting him be on his way.  Or so was Kagami’s experience when he had first gone out in public with his shifter marks. 

He’s hunting for a pool when he first catches the scent of another big cat shifter like himself.  It’s strong, almost floors him, because Koganei didn’t give off a scent this strong and neither did Mitobe.  Takao’s was just as weak, so this one was like a punch to the gut.  All ideas of taking a swim tossed out of the window, Kagami made to follow, stumbling across a big cat that he almost missed if it weren’t for the glowing blue eyes.

The two circled each other, sizing one another up, and—

It was a panther.

The two circled once more, Kagami making for a lunge, when the other effortlessly jumped over him, using the dumpster behind him to vault to the roof.  Kagami would have followed but as a tiger he was too heavy.  The panther seemed to be taunting him, sitting on the roof and waving its tail back and forth lazily.

Irritating.

Kagami huffed, giving off a warning growl, and turned to head back home.  Any idea of exploring more had been thoroughly dashed.  He was stopped again when the panther landed in front of him, an arrogant look in its eyes, before it dashed off. 

Kagami followed and was thoroughly made a fool of.  The panther was comfortable with its body, the shifter taking enjoyment in how he still hadn’t had full control of his body.  When Kagami gave up the chase because stubborn determination only got him so far, it looked as if the other was laughing at him

“I win,” the panther’s posture seemed to ooze.

Later on, the next day, when Kagami was practicing by himself, he ran into Aomine Daiki.  That scent of the shifter from the night before slammed into him and he wanted to strangle the other but basketball was such a better course of action. 

Kagami was beaten, promptly, and seeing the brief glimpse of spots on the other’s body confirmed it.

“I win,” Aomine’s posture drawled, just like the panther from last night.

 

 


End file.
